Those things are indestructible. I used to work with a guy that had 400k on one. Might still have it for all I know. He said it got over 50 mph. Really cant beat German engineering.

love these real life budget videos you do a great job for little money!

The video of you driving the rabbit-truck with your friend in the passenger seat -- both were grinning ear to ear. THAT is what I think this little truck brings to the table; a smile at the hilarious nature of this 'crazy' little light duty work truck.. It's a rabbit thats also a truck!

Learnt to drive in Golf, Rabbit to you over the other side of the pond. Great wee cars. I’m from Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Fun! I’ve got an ‘81. Drives great. I did have to replace my vacuum booster as it was sticking, due to internal rust, causing brakes to drag. About 250,000 on mine. My paint is in good shape and the poor thing actually has taken out 2 deer! Repaired and running. I did have ‘normal’ rust, at the corners of the windshield where water could sit, under the gasket and not drain. Pulled windshield, fixed rust and replaced gasket. It’s a fun truck. I think I need to replace the injectors (I have the tips) as it’s pretty doggy but at 50+ MPG who cares!

Very nice little truck, don't worry about the old fuel, the wonderful thing about an old Diesel is that it will run on almost anything. I'd love an old Rabbit or Golf, but I'm in the Rust Belt, and our vehicles are eaten alive by the Rust Monster here in NY State. Yes, restore that thing, it looks like a very dependable ride.

These engines were notorious for frozen rings and defective cylinder heads. First sign of bad rings is bad starting because of compression issues. ATK from Japan made a complete replacement cylinder head. I used to do one engine every three days, take it apart, remove the frozen rings, throw away the entire cylinder head. Replace the rod bearings, then back together. You need a special VW tool to time the injection pump.

This makes me miss my caddy. She was a different animal though. 180hp 9a, close ratio trans. Slammed on the ground... freaking death trap, but it was fast. Lol. Good on ya for saving this one. They're getting fewer and farther between. 👍👍

I love the wheel change 😂

Merry Christmas. I would love to see a total restoration of this car, since not many of them are around.

Word to the wise from a dude who has been through the wringer with one of these little beasties. Replace that old coolant expansion tank, use only new German water pumps and thermostats, check your timing belt religiously. Also the coolant temp gauge is to be watched like a hawk at all times. I'd recommend an aftermarket one if you can swing it the factory ones are dicey at best. Always willing to lend a hand or knowledge if you're not sure or need advice or resources. The cooling system is the only thing keeping the head from warping on these things be sure it's well taken care of and fresh cheers.

I love the truck and it’s Diesel engine . In the late 80’s early 90’s I took two diesel rabbits and made one completely rebuilt rabbit .. I was a master VW tech for 15 years and had a love for vw’s ... you have a special vehicle there even if it doesn’t look like it ...

Such a cute little pickup. Would look nice next to my 85 S10

Love the Patina & Graphics. European round headlights and front bumper would simplify the front even more. Tyres have steel liners. If you’ve ever tried to remove a tyre from a wheel on your own, you know how tough it is. I had a cutting disc to a tyre once and could barely get through it. Keep it under 50mph it’ll be fine. Owned x2 Mk1’s & x4 Mk2’s. Cheap parts, easy to work on, 30mpg, gets a lot of attention. Folks love um especially the more basic models. 1990 CL Auto at the moment. Mk1’s are prettier but Mk2’s are a bit more usable for a daily. I’m up to 62k mileage on my current Mk2 rolling resto. Enjoying the videos. You know your stuff 👍🏻😎

Those wheels and white wall tyres are completely date related awesome! Keep truck completely original! Patina and all . Great looking truck.

Great little truck for running future race engines to and from the machine shop 😀. Repair or neutralize any important rust, and leave the paint alone. Merry Christmas!

New sub here, been trying to figure out who you remind me of, then you made that goofy face while driving, then it hit me, Enos from the dukes of hazzard. I enjoy the videos, thank you for the entertainment sir.

Oh man... I had one of these in college in New York. I bought it with 290k miles on it, drove it for 3 years and then sold it still running. Keep em coming.

Loving how this little truck is coming along!!!

that's an awesome deal you just made! Would be at least 3000 EUR for this in the EU... and nice ones are sold around 7-8k

What a magnificent job you do !!!, so in that same state is how I buy my cars !! I adore '' bring them back to life '' !!!! Since I am a teenager, all the ones that I had until now I bought them in the same conditions as your vehicle !!! By the way, your little girl precious, it reminded me a little of Sherley temple !!! many greetings and congratulations from Buenos Aires, Argentina South America.

Someone sponsore this man and supply him with a lift

That truck would look great painted with raptor liner

I worked at a VW dealer back in the mid-80's. These would come in after over heating or snapping a timing belt. We had one mechanic who worked on these, and refused to wrench on anything else. Steady work for him, I guess. Cool to see one of these again !

Such fun cars... keep the color. Before you know it your little ones will be driving it. I had one... an '81...gas... put a HT (or RD?) 1.8 liter hydraulic lifter GTi motor (10:1 comp) in it. That thing scooted. I sure miss it. It was rear ended by a Dodge 3/4 ton work truck. Thank god for head rests as my head (rest) knocked out the rear window.

I'm in the UK. Don't ever remember seeing one of those here. We had VW Caddys but the ones I remember were 3 door vans. I would love to put a VR6 in one of those and keep it as a ratty sleeper type.

Hi Budget Buildz! I also own a Mg Midget and a VW Rabbit diesel pickup! I just love my pickup and I drive it every day. They are awesome trucks! Thank you for the video. Best regards.

I love jour Truck, the patina is Nice like this. Have fun with it. It so fun to run those old vw.

I remember when these were new on the lot. I always wanted one.

Ajax or powdered Clorox and scotch brite pad will make that brand new again. Then matt clear the truck. That thing is mint great find and good luck wish I could find one like this!

Brilliant pickups. 😊

Lovely straight mini truck,purring like a kitten.I have been pursuing a Chev-Luv short chassis 1ton pick up garaged after the old man passed away,but the old lady can't let it.Best wishes with the projects.

The rustic look fits it I would only clear coat it after a nice wash

This is the first video I've seen on this channel and as soon as I saw that he had an old VW rabbit I automatically had to subscribe to his channel because anyone who likes old VW's is worth my time watching when it come to revival and/or restoration videos like this

those were some tough lil trucks

That sucker looks solid... nice find! A friend of mine had a gas one back in the 90s. Was a cool little truck.

You can get rid of the rust staining on the paint with CLR, if you want.

I purchased a 2015 Mercedes GLK350 with subframe damage. That's my rebuild project next week. busted steering rack, subframe and oil pan. 20k mileage. new car when repaired. gonna be fun!!

Love this truck I had one exactly like this in the early 90s Glad to see folks keeping them alive. I have owned several VW diesels from MK1 to my 2015 Jetta.

Great job, as always. Merry Christmas, Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to you and your family.

Hey Michael, glad to be able to get my Budget Buildz fix watching this little truck project while I wait for you to post your next Porsche instalment. I hope you and your family are good and staying safe. I really enjoy this channel and your down to earth style..

It looks great! Keep it original and thoroughly detail it inside and outside, including the underside. Would love to see it!

This a awsome god old classic car, needs to be saved and enjoyed😁😁

i am inspired by this little truck

I already love this channel. You will make it big 🇺🇸🇺🇸

That is some unique pick up, the volkswagen rabbit, the pick up looked like it was bigger than the rabbit hatchback, now that red rabbit sounds like a diesel , I was thinking to give a good thorough cleaning,,I would have used a power wash, it would have taken the brown stain out,who knows maybe it would take a lot of surface rust out,,🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙

When you turned into your driveway, sounds like you might need CV joints

great work getting the caddy rolling - I hope my barn find project goes as easy!

Really fantastic patina vw😊👍

Let me let you in on a little secret. Dads live for moments like this when their sons take off in an old junk wagon.

All the guys watching Barn Finders and envying you with your cute little pickup! Lots of fun. Merry Christmas...Wishing God's Blessings for your family for the coming year!

Very well done guys. It is one of those rare vehicles that out performs almost anything you can buy today (Capable of 50+ mpg and breaking the speed limit - eventually) and if maintained will outlast the owner - there are some still around that are one owner daily drivers!......for 40 years

Just found your videos. Love them rabbits! Had 4 if them in the day. Never was able to find a pickup here in western Pa. I'd give my left one to find one in that condition here for $500!

Great job ! Happy Christmas to you and your family ! 👍😊

congratulations ! Nice car !!

Finally! First! Channel is going in a good solid direction man. Glad i found the channel while it’s still developing and young.

beautiful 1980 rabbit truck ! first year for the truck , one year only dash/ nose. and should be the 1.5 L if its the original motor :)

Super cool I have and 81 that I daily and it’s never left me stranded keep up the vids I’d love to keep seeing this caddy return to life

Reminds me of my '84 Rabbit GTI that I bought new and drove for 19 years. Not sure how many miles it had on it as I broke several odometer cables. It was showing about 250K miles. Engine still strong and used no oil as I changed the oil every 3K miles. Finally gave it to a coworker who was going to restore it. I special ordered it with undercoating from the factory so it had no rust on it. VW Rabbits were great cars.

Great find! I had a vw pick up truck and I miss it. A little tight for me now.

I love those pick ups .good luck.

The trunk alone in good shape is 1-2k worth

Thanks for letting us sit in on your project. Ever see those operations on TV where there is a raised gallery of med students? Have you ever noticed the one way up high eating popcorn - the one destine to leave med school shorty? That's us, But like him we are enjoying the day!

I used to work at a shop that specialized in the VW diesels. One of those lines on the tank runs into the engine compartment and is a vent line that should be stuck in a hole in the frame rail. You can pressurize this line with an air hose and push fuel up through the filter and to pump. Make sure that this line is kept unobstructed or the pump with suck your tank flat.

Brings memories of the rabbit I had and the rabbit truck my sister and brother in law had

Do change the timing belt. Asap.👍

You should use CLR and clean it. The wet sanding will take paint off. CLR will remove the rust staining. Great video. Nice family as well. Thanks

Saweeeeeeeeet I'm happy to see it on the road.....and yes I'd love to see more of this and more of your projects.....love the content bro..... Merry Christmas :)

The reason I say is like some surface rust or brown stains would come out, also the factory rims, would get their shine back, doesn**t have to be full strength, plus the undercarriage would look nice after being so long parked.

SPRAY IT DOWN WITH AWESOME AND MICROFIBER CLOTH. YOU CAN BUY AWESOME AT THE DOLLAR TREE.

That’s badass 👍👍

What a sweet find

Cool un caddy ! Bon courage et joyeux Noël 👍

Here in South America we have the VW Saveiro, is similar, but it has coil springs all around with a solid axle at the back and McPherson at the front, the engine is the same, and new and more modern versions are still in production. The model that is similar is the Saveiro G1. BTW awesome video!

I'm buying one soon... 1983 VW Rabbit. It runs and drive but needs some fine tuning.

What a great project cool old VW please more of this car 👍😊 Greetings from Germany

Good luck 👍 Love the vids

My dad had datsun truck about the size when I was little. Sounds like a diesel. A boy and his toys.i love the old stick shift, I had a 68 maverick that was colum shift, it was a blast. My first car.

“Let’s clean the windshield so we can take it round the block” cleans whole Caddy, I love it ! Over here in the U.K. with my own ex unloved pickup

Keeper. Solid little diesel pick-up, nice find!

FYI these were made in Pennsylvania and back in the day I regularly got 44 MPG. I got rid of it when I passed it on to my son and finally sold it when the SECOND engine died on him.

I have a 1980s vw cabriolet, it’s an automatic, rust free as well, same engine and identical under the hood, fun little car to drive around

I 'restored' an '80 Rabbit that was off the road from I'd have to say the late 80s and had a full tank of diesel which turned into molasses, but I had utilized a 12v diesel fuel pump to suck all the old fuel out....came in handy when it was time to prime the fuel filter/injection pump. Good thing to have laying around.

i had an 81 with 4 speed took a 5 speed out of a vw scirocco put in the truck made a big improvement on the highway !!!!!!!!!!!!

Good job. Little bit of care and wash - VW looks nice and goes. One more time... good luck with your projects :-)

Can't believe that wheel came off that easy after 25 years

In Europe we call it Caddy

Very cool truck. I had 2 at one time and the only issues I had was tail lights and a gas tank almost impossible to find. The front strut towers are in good shape on that they are prone to rust because they undercoated it so well they covered the weep holes for draining. Cool truck wish I had mine still.

Oh man i want one off those

These trucks were fun, just very under powered so don't expect too much , You had to drive them flat out but it didn't hurt them , great economical parts runners in the 80s. You scored on this one

I love these 70/80s Volkswagens. I am just rebuilding a 1977 Volkswagen Polo. Ithink you didn´t have them in the States right? The engine is still running and is in good condition.. like yours in the Rabbit.^^ Love your channel man.. and it´s nice to see that there are more crazy guys like me in the world that keep these good old Volkswagens alive )) Greetings from Olli from Germany

Just found your channel. I dig what you’re doing. Subscribed.

So awesome!

Saw one guy clean a rusty car with CLR and a green scrub pad. After that washed and buffed it. It looked really good. It's on KZfaq. Think it's a 60 oldsmobile.

13:40 Gumbert Apollo? 17:30 The good Jumper Cables. I have a set, and they are over 30 years old, and they are far better than anything on the market today.

Part of me says keep her original. Part of me says full restomod. Subtle, but modern.

The Porsche brought me here and this one has got me hooked. Keep up the great work and I'll be following closely!! Merry Christmas to you!!

Looks great to me. Cute old Vee Dub.

Remarkably well preserved that ‘Rabbit’ cough Golf pick up. I had a ‘75 Scirocco in ‘83 and that was already ‘ripe’. Then again it was in the shitty UK not South Carolina! Merry Xmas👍

That old fuel looked like treacle 🤣